Thursday Threads

Golf has been played on Gullane links for over 350 years. As far back as 1650, the weavers of Dirleton played the weavers of Aberlady annually on Old Handsel Monday. However, there was no organized club until early last century, when some local farmers banded together to play golf. This club became defunct about the end of the feather ball period (1848) but it was resuscitated in 1859 and, as the East Lothian Golf Club, still holds meetings today at Gullane. The oldest club in continuous existence at Gullane is Dirleton Castle, founded in 1854 by “shopkeepers, working men and artisans.” Weavers, farmers; artisans; their appreciation of Nature’s golfing bounty at Gullane has spread worldwide. Golf on Gullane Hill was a lucky combination of wind, sand, rock, rabbits, wool, feathers and gum.

ARCHIE BAIRD

Gullane - For those that revere the links, the next month will be special.  They're on the course at Gullane as we speak, and thankfully Golf Channel seems to have resolved its technical difficulties...

The weather looks perfect, sun with just a wee breeze.  It's a good field with a healthy American contingent that includes Phil, Jimmy Walker, Rickie and Kooch.  And, for what it's worth, on our last visit to Gullane we stayed at the Open Arms in Dirleton, right across the road from the castle.

I used to read Brandon Tucker's blog years ago, but he had seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth.  But Shack links to this offering of his at ScotlandGolf.com in which he introduces us to the above-quoted Archie Baird:

But before or after your round, be sure to see Archie. With a few days notice, Baird will

offer free tours of his Heritage of Golf museum right next to Gullane's pro shop. Here, Baird shows off his extensive collection of artwork, memorabilia and equipment, including some bizarre old clubs. 

"I especially enjoy showing Americans this one," he says with a grin. It's an old, hickory iron designed by an American that has a wooden face attached to the iron head. "They thought that it was the wood that made the ball go far, so they put wood over the face of the iron, bless them."

I was not aware of the museum when we were there, so I've not experienced it first-hand.  But lest you think that you're humble blogger is an insufferable traditionalist, there's this:

Baird especially enjoys talking about the golf ball, which went from an expensive, feather-core ball to a cheaper, more mass-produced ball made of a black, gum-like Gutta-Percha, just after 1850. This allowed the number of golf clubs in the world to go from just a handful to thousands by 1900. 

The tour ends rather abruptly, as Baird notes: 

"Then the modern, rubber-core ball came along in the 1920s, courses had to adapt to it, and I lost interest. Any questions?"

Got it.  Shack also embeds this delightful video of Archie:

And how about this for TV coverage:

 Update on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 at 10:35 AM by Geoff

**For the American audience, television times:

Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open Tournament Airtimes (all times ET):

Thursday, July 9 5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live) Golf Channel

Friday, July 10 5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live) Golf Channel

Saturday, July 11 9:30 a.m.-Noon (Live) Golf Channel

Noon-2:30 p.m. (Live) NBC

Sunday, July 12 9:30 a.m.-Noon (Live) Golf Channel

Noon-2:30 p.m. (Live) NBC

That may be too much even for me, plus there's Wimbledon and the Women's U.S. Open...what's a fellow to do?

The Old -  Not enough hours in the day, I tell you... so I've struggle to get started on the big one.  No doubt you've heard that Rory has officially pulled out, disappointing but no doubt a prudent move.  John Feinstein captured this sentiment here:

“McIlroy is one of the brightest athletes on the planet. He knows that long-term safety is far more important than short-term gratification…Here’s hoping someone in his camp — his dad? — talks him into thinking about the next two decades rather than the next two weeks.”

A damn shame not to have him, but it's the only prudent play.  Now, Rors, when's that next kickabout?

Local lad Russell Knox is the lucky soul that got into the field as a result of Rory's WD. 

Shack has a great Q&A with Graylyn Lewis, with whom I was previously not acquainted.  Graylyn was a student at the U. of St. Andrews and was the first to send smoke signals that they were desecrating altering the Old Course.  This is how it came to pass:

GS: You were one of the few to track the recent changes to the course. Tell us how you stumbled on them, what you think of them and where you found any shredded R&A ties in your bed? Or whatever they do to intimidate people there… 

GL: Like you said, I literally stumbled upon the changes taking place. I went out for a morning round one day to find a small dump truck on the 11th green. It happened to be the day the changes were starting to take place. After finishing the round I went to the Dunvegan for a pint and none of the locals knew what was happening. I ended up going back out with my camera to take photos every couple of days to document what was happening. The only tense moment came during the second round of changes when Martin Hawtree gave me a pretty serious stare down at the fourth green. He must not have liked someone standing awkwardly close taking photos of him with a telephoto camera while he worked…

I'll bet he didn't, but given the secrecy he's lucky that Hawtree wasn't under orders to kill him.  However, his assessment is mostly comforting:

I go back and forth with myself about the changes. To my eye the changes all made

sense architecturally, but the idea of altering the Old Course to keep up with equipment changes doesn’t sit well in my stomach. At the end of the day I remind myself that the Old has changed and evolved quite a bit over the centuries, so this can be considered the latest iteration in a long process.

I was able to play the course quite a bit after the changes. Generally, I think the changes added a reasonable level of difficulty to the renovated areas of the course. The bunker move on the second green has made a lower right pin placement much more difficult. The re-contouring right of the 4th and 6th greens certainly makes you think twice about missing right. The 11th green re-shaping has created much more “pin-able” square footage on the left side of the green. A cup on that left side of the green also brings in a vicious left bunker that many golfers have never seen or noticed. I found that the re-shaped area around the Road Hole Bunker has made a left miss much more penal around that green. That being said, the Road Hole Bunker seemed bigger after the changes, making it quite a bit easier in my book (before it always seemed that a lie up against the bunker wall was inevitable).

One can't help but wonder why it had to be done in the dark of night...  This was of interest since the entire Unplayable Lies staff will be there in August:

GS: You’ve devoted a page to your site listing the best pubs in town. During Open week they’re all busy, but give us a sense what the scene is like the rest of the year(s) when a major is not descending on the town? Where do the students go? What are the best experiences for golfers? 

GL: Outside of the golf season (tourist season), the pubs around St Andrews are always busy with locals and students. During the winter they become much-needed social centers to escape the cold and catch up with friends. You will likely find students at Ma Bell’s, the Vic, or the Student Union (University of St Andrews bar) on any given night, especially when a DJ is playing or a sporting event is happening. Golfers should certainly experience the Dunvegan and the Jigger Inn – both legendary 19th holes next to the Old Course. However, visiting golfers should also get a taste of local St Andrews and head away from the area around the Old Course. Get the nachos and a pint at the Whey Pat or enjoy a locally brewed ale at the St Andrews Brewery Pub. Take in local musical talent on Monday nights at the Criterion Pub or challenge a local caddie (if you dare) to a game of darts at The Keys.

Noted.  Now there's all sorts of pre-tourney festivities, including the World Golf Hall of Fame inductions ceremony on Monday in famed Younger Hall.  The most notable inductee is A.W. Tillinghast, about which one can only ask how it is possible that's he's not yet a member?  His famed designs are well-known, but his talents as a golf writer and photographer are not. 

The video embedded at Geoff's place with golf historian Tony Parker is worth a look.

Then on Wednesday we have the Open Championship's version of the Masters' Par-3 contests, with thanks to Mark W. for forwarding this from the R&A's members' website:

Champion Golfers whose victories span 60 years of Open history will take part

in the Champion Golfers’ Challenge at St Andrews ahead of The 144TH Open

next week. The draw for the historic contest on Wednesday 15 July, which

will see 29 Champion Golfers with a combined 46 victories in golf’s oldest

Championship taking part, is published today.

Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “The Champion Golfers’

Challenge will be a wonderful event for the many thousands of fans at St

Andrews as well as those watching on television around the world.

Though not specified, I assume they'll play the first and last two holes, the loop used for a playoff.  That gives them 2 very easy holes, though let's hope the Road Hole doesn't do too much damage.  It's all the usual suspects (and thank God Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton are in the field), but also some folks we don't see too often such as Bob Charles and Peter Thomson.

Lancaster - Scheduling is quite the challenge for the ladies, as there are few weeks on the calendar without significant competition for the golf viewer.  This week isn't great with the extensive coverage of the Sottish, but let's hope the ladies garner some eyeballs.

Mike Davis is a central-Pennsylvanian and has chosen little-seen Lancaster Country Club as thier venue, and Frank Fitzpatrick provides this backgrounder on the venue:

The 95-year-old layout that occupies a snug but handsome slice of land between New

Holland Pike and the Conestoga Creek doesn't have a big-tournament pedigree. Though this will be the 83d USGA event conducted in the state - by far the most of any - it will be Lancaster's first. 

Its staid membership traditionally has shunned big events, though in the late 1940s LCC's Billy Haverstick defeated Arnold Palmer, 4-3, here in the final of the Pennsylvania Amateur.

Ben Crenshaw and Walter Hagen played here - a framed letter from the former, praising its classical design, hangs in the clubhouse - and a young Jim Furyk honed his game at Lancaster while a member of Manheim Township High School's golf team.

But what Lancaster did have, and what sets it in a class with many of the East's most renowned courses, was one of the best and most prolific designers from the golden age of golf architecture.

William Flynn, 29 at the time and the greenskeeper at Merion Golf Club, began mapping out LCC early in 1920 for a weekly fee of $44.92. The course opened 10 months later, but he would spend the next 25 years tweaking and refining his creation.

If the name Flynn rings a bell, it should frankly do more than that as Fitzpatrick adds:

Flynn's other work includes some of the East's best-known courses. He not only helped Hugh Wilson with Merion East, he designed the Country Club in Brookline, Mass; Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne; Huntington Valley in Whitemarsh; and Shinnecock Hills and Westchester Country Club in New York. 

He was particularly active in the Philadelphia area, where he established his design business. In addition to Merion, Philadelphia Country Club, and Huntington Valley, he laid out Bala, Cobbs Creek, Gulph Mills, Manufacturers, Atlantic City, Springhaven, and Sunnybrook. Flynn also was one of many architects who contributed to George Crump's South Jersey masterpiece, Pine Valley.

The aforementioned Mark W. had this to say in an e-mail about Lancaster CC:

Scott, not that you need any prompting, but the USGA Women’s Open should be worth watching. The Lancaster CC was my home course while playing collegiate golf (long ago and far away when I could play golf) for F&M. Beautiful Bill Flynn courses (3 nine holes courses) and they selected the best combo. Nice elevation changes for a parkland course.

The only caveat and I hope they remedied the problem, is a very wet course if it even drizzled.

Ummm...Mark and I have been friends for 17-18 years now, but this is the first he tells me that he played collegiate golf.  Sheesh!  It's not like at all our lunches we talked about anything else but golf, excepting perhaps the occasional politics.

And please do offer him a bite of cheese with his whine, as he's still got the syrupy smooth tempo that I'd die for.